


Familiarity

by clauude



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Post-Time Skip, Some Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-25 22:33:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20731769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clauude/pseuds/clauude
Summary: Claude considered himself very good at reading people.But he could not, for the life of him, understand why Byleth kept staring at him.





	Familiarity

**Author's Note:**

> I just finished GD route and I can't go back. I'm consuming content so fast I had to make my own...:') Unedited, a little rushed, and not really cohesive, but hopefully enough to get the point across that y'all, I stan Claude von Riegan. Might come back to do some rework but in the meantime...enjoy (?) !

Claude considered himself very good at reading people.

Figuring out how people worked was the key to devising good strategies. Uncovering their personalities and understanding their emotions helped him understand their motives, and from there he could arrange their pieces carefully on his mental map. It was how he dealt with even the most impossible battle situations – once he figured out the enemy’s thought patterns, it was almost trivial to formulate a plan of attack. Not to say that he had become close to his fellow Golden Deer just to use them in his schemes; strong relationships as allies also made the strongest kind of army.

People, in his mind, were the key.

But for all the effort he put into understanding them, he could not, for the life of him, understand why Byleth kept _staring_ at him.

He noticed it for the first time as they were making preparations to repair the monastery; a slight prickle on the back of his neck, and he had turned to find her completely concentrated on his person, despite causing a complete roadblock up the steps of the entrance hall. He had caught her eye and given her a playful wink, but she had quickly looked away, as if snapping out of some sort of trance, and subsequently busied herself along with the repair traffic. He couldn’t tell if she was doing it on purpose, but Claude felt her gaze follow him everywhere, from the war council room to the dining hall. She did not seem unhappy, per se, but the intensity and length of her focus on him was...a little unnerving.

At the same time, he was not _unhappy_ about these interesting little occurrences. He could not count the amount of times as a student he had dreamed of her, enamored by his charm and wit, laughing and gazing at him with eyes that had become so expressive over the year she had instructed them. He had clamored for that attention in real life, eagerly attending private one-on-one lessons just to have her eyes for himself. It was those looks that his thoughts drifted to, unbidden, when he was feeling particularly lonely or helpless in the five-year span of her disappearance. Now that she had returned, she was probably (most likely, as in 100%) unaware of the fire she was stoking on his little crush.

Unfortunately, some of Claude’s allies were a little more perceptive of what Byleth’s strange behavior was doing to him.

“Professor has been quite...interested in you lately, Claude,” Hilda drawled, twirling a strand of her hair absent-mindedly, her chin settled into her other palm as she watched Claude move some pieces around the war map. “Do you think she was possessed and now she’s waiting for the perfect moment to finish you off?”

“Could be a possibility,” he hummed, playing along. “For all we know, she could have been “asleep” in the Adestrian Empire, and now she’s here to do Edelgard’s bidding.”

“Nah, even that’s too dark for the Professor.”

“Hmm,” he uttered nonchalantly, even though he knew he couldn’t fool Hilda. They had gotten far too close in a single year at the Officer’s Academy (he had even invited her back to meet his parents, for crying out loud), and now no amount of his facade got past her.

“Oh, don’t pretend,” she scoffed, dropping the pretense. “What’s going on between you two?”

“Hild, if I knew, I would – well, maybe it’s a stretch to say that I would absolutely tell you, but regardless I’m just as in the dark as you are.” He held a wyvern piece in his hand, twirling it idly between his fingers as he moved other units around. “Maybe she’s just keeping an eye on me to make sure she’s really on the right side of this war. Or maybe she’s getting used to my charming looks again.”

She rolled her eyes. “Pfft, sure. As much as I’ve been waiting for this to happen, I would’ve thought the Professor would be a little bit more discreet about it. Someone’s gotta be the cool one in the relationship.”

“I don’t know what you mean. And I think I’m very cool.”

“Please. No amount of denial will erase all the heart eyes you made me witness when we were in school together.”

He paused his battalion formations, a thoughtful expression on his face. He quirked a brow before finally placing the small figure he’d been playing with back on his map.

“Y’know, Hilda, I know you said you’d be better off on the sidelines, but I think you’ll be just _stunning_ on the front line in the next battle.”

“...Ugh.”

\---

He didn’t expect to meet her later, picking through the ruins of the chapel in the dead of night. He had taken to settling with a blanket amidst the rubble to look at the stars when he couldn’t sleep. It was oddly calming, despite being in the center of the remnants of an ideology that had spun the threads of war.  
  
“Claude? You’re still up?” Her face peered over his, her seafoam-colored hair framing smooth cheeks and eyes a a shade lighter than his own.

“Just thinking about how big this world is,” he replied in greeting. “The stars tend to do that. Care to join me for a bit?” He patted the spot next to him. She complied, removing her cape to drape over herself as she lay beside him.

It was peaceful, laying side by side together. He could feel the warmth of her body radiating off her. She adjusted every now and again, switching between burrowing her nose underneath her cape to releasing puffs of gusty air from her mouth. It was very cute.

He allowed some time to pass like this, before clearing his throat. It was as good an opportunity as any.

“You’ve been very attentive to me lately, Teach,” he opened lazily, nonchalantly. “Something pique your interest?”

“Ah – er- what?” Her eyes widened a little; she looked thoroughly confused.

“Have you not noticed?” He chuckled. “You’ve been watching me like a guard since you’ve gotten back. It’s like you’re afraid _I’m_ suddenly going to disappear.”

“Oh – I didn’t even realize,” she responded. “I’m sorry...”

“No issue here,” he replied with a wink. “Thought I’d grown an extra two heads or something.”  
  
“Ah...it’s not that,” she started hesitantly. “It’s, um, nothing...”

That admission definitely confirmed Claude’s suspicion that there was something.

“_Teach_...” he whined half-heartedly, pulling out the old nickname again to persuade her. “Tell me. I’m dying to know.”

He snuck a peek at her from the corner of his eye. Her face was thoughtful, and her eyes were resolutely glued to the starry sky above. After a few moments, a light shade of pink settled on the uncovered part of her face.

“You don’t...you don’t wear your braid anymore.”

He paused, letting her words sink in, then burst out into a full-bodied laugh. “So that’s what it was."

“It was a very distinctive feature!” She huffed, slightly offended at his amusement. “It took me some time to realize what exactly had changed.”

His mirth finally dying down, he turned onto his side to face her, arm under his head as he appraised her.

“An old friend of mine did something similar to his own hair,” he explained. "I really looked up to him when I was younger. Well, I still look up to him now, but at some point I guess I stopped braiding it in. Dukedom does that to you, I suppose.”

He raised his shoulders slightly, shaking his head. “Of course, you’re welcome to put it back.”

He said it in a teasing fashion, half-joking. To his astonishment, she turned to face him immediately.

“Really?” She asked earnestly, her eyes wide and looking up at him with excitement.

He tried to keep down a blush at her eagerness. “Uh..I mean..yeah, go for it.”

She scooted closer to him and reached out with pale hands. The feeling of her fingers in his hair was pleasant as she took a generous amount from the side of his head and started to twine the strands together. Their faces were so close; hers was set in an expression of determination, while he tried to keep his neutral. He tried not to bely his slight fluster, closing his eyes so he wouldn’t just gape at her. His breathing slowed, and he allowed himself to relax into her touch.

After a few minutes, she hummed in satisfaction.

“There,” she declared, seemingly satisfied with her work. He felt the tight cord on the side of his head; she brushed it back to settle behind his ear. “I missed it.”

As she moved her hands away, Claude reached up to catch one, mid-retreat. He twined their fingers together before gently laying their laced hands down between them.

“I missed you,” he murmured. His breath hitched just the slightest, but his response was nearly automatic.

The soft blush returned to her cheeks, but she didn’t draw away. She squeezed their intertwined hands and smiled warmly, her eyes crinkling as they looked into his.

“I missed you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hit me up with HCs or just chat about FE3H on tumblr, @claaude. :)


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